Introducing the only turnkey automated client centered comprehensive financial planning platform from Cyborg-Advisors. These services are available for individuals, families and businesses, that includes personalized oversight and planning from a team of qualified Independent Registered Investment Advisers (RIA’s), Certified Financial Planners (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriters (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultants (ChFC), Certified Fund Specialist (CFS) and Retirement Income Specialist (RIS) all for a simple flat fee of $500.00 dollars – for Comprehensive plans and $100.00 dollars for each module base plan without losing any of the professional expertise generally associated with the old face – to – face process.

Financial Planning and The ProcessThe 6 steps of financial planning are used by some of the best financial planners, specifically Certified Financial Planners™, when creating and implementing financial plans for their clients. However, these steps can and should be followed by every investor or individual.

Why not plan for yourself like the professionals do it? Whether you do it yourself or work with one of our planners. Either way, we hope the following information will help you in your financial education and all future reference in your financial planning process now or in the future.

At Cyborg-Advisors, our team of Independent Registered Investment Advisers and financial planners are proud to tell you that the 6 steps of financial planning are burned into our memories, not just because we follow the process with clients and prospective clients, but also because the head of our financial planning depart memorized them to take the incredibly arduous and nightmarish CFP Board Exam almost two decades ago! He also trained hundreds of CFP candidates looking to become CFP’s. Most important, he requires all individuals working on plans to follow the very same process.

Well here are the 6 Steps:EGADIM: The 6 Steps of Financial Planning
You can recall the six steps by memorizing the acronym EGADIM, the letters that begin the first word of each step:Establish the goal/relationshipGather dataAnalyze dataDevelop a planImplement the planMonitor the plan

Step 1: Establish the Goal / RelationshipThis is where the adviser will introduce him or herself and typically explains the financial planning process to a client or prospective client. The adviser may ask open-ended questions to uncover anything and everything from immediate financial goals to feelings about market risk to dreams about retiring in the Caribbean.

The purpose of establishing the goal or relationship is to form the foundation or purpose of planning itself–to begin the financial journey with the clarification of a financial destination. We understand this relationship building stage very well with over 30 years of combined experience from our team of experience qualified professionals and was able to incorporate it into an automated process for those who want to do – it themselves or work with a human all the way through the process or not.

Overall the years we have learned that too many people save and invest money with no specific goal in mind. Going a bit deeper, too many people have financial destinations but these goals often times are not their own; the goals are whatever the so-called conventional wisdom has taught or they may have heard one of the talking heads on tv suggest common goals of retirees. In our opinion, financial planning is personal and the purpose of money must follow the purpose of life, not the other way around.

Do-it-yourselfers can fulfill this step by simply getting to know themselves a bit better. Financial planners do this by asking open-ended questions, which are questions that cannot be answered by a simple yes or no (closed-ended question). Here are some examples of open-ended questions you can use in your own planning and many more on our proprietary questionnaire:

What are your feelings about investing in the stock market? Why do you think you feel that way?What are some of your earliest memories and resulting experiences of financial planning (i.e. first savings account, first checking account, and first credit card)?What are your financial strengths? What are your financial weaknesses?How do you plan to save enough for retirement?

Now you have an idea of your financial goal–the guiding philosophy to direct investment objectives, cash management, insurance needs, and other financial instruments to help achieve your goals.

Step 2: Gather the Relevant Data This step is where the information required to make recommendations for the appropriate strategies and financial products to reach your goals is gathered. For example, what is your time horizon? Do you want to accomplish this goal in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years or 30 years? What is your risk tolerance? Are you willing to accept a high relative market risk to achieve your investment goals or will a conservative portfolio be a better option for you? Also, how far along are you in your goals? Do you have any money saved yet? Do you have life insurance? Do you have a will? Do you have children? If so, what are their ages? For example, if you are gathering data for retirement planning, you’ll need to know your annual income, savings rate, years until proposed retirement, age when you are eligible to receive Social Security or a pension, how much you’ve saved to date, how much you will save in the future, expected rate of return and more. Although you may already know this information, it is wise to have it all written down so you can visualize all of the necessary data required to make investment decisions–to give yourself prudent “advice.”

Step 3: Analyze the Data You’ve gathered the relevant data, now analyze it! Following the retirement planning example, the data you’ve gathered can help you arrive at some basic assumptions. Let’s assume you have 30 years until retirement, you’ve already saved $50,000, you expect an 8.00% return on your investments, and you can save $250 per month going forward. If you don’t have a financial calculator, you can analyze the data with a financial calculator or you can go to one of many online calculators, such as Kiplinger’s Retirement Savings Calculator, plug in the numbers and see if your retirement nest egg will be just right for you. Using my financial calculator these assumptions will arrive at approximately $920,000 at the proposed retirement date of 30 years from now. Is this enough? Is your retirement goal achievable? Often, the initial assumptions are not quite enough to obtain the goal. This where you begin devising alternative solutions that are in the next step.

Step 4: Develop the Plan Let’s say you need $1 million to reach your goal. The previous assumptions (in Step 3: Analyze the Data) brought you just $100,000 short at around $900,000. If you can handle taking more market risk, you could increase your exposure to stocks in an aggressive portfolio of mutual funds and assume a 9.00% rate of return. Assuming all other assumptions remain the same, and by increasing your expected return by 1.00%, your 30-year time horizon, and savings rates would bring you to a nest egg worth nearly $1.2 million! But what if you want to keep the rate of return at 8.00% but increase your savings rate to $300 per month? You can still come close to your goal with $990,000. You can see why this step’s key word is “develop.” Financial planning requires devising alternative solutions that are achievable for each individual. With so many different variables to consider, your plan needs to develop, to evolve with your needs but remain within your capabilities and risk tolerance.

Step 5: Implement the Plan Now you simply put your plan to work! But as simple as this sounds, many people find that implementation is the most difficult step in financial planning. Although you have the plan developed, it takes discipline and desire to put it into action. Saving $250 or $300 per month may be difficult. You may begin to wonder what may happen if you fail. This is where inaction grows into procrastination. Successful investors will tell you that just getting started is the most important aspect of success. You don’t need to start out at a high level of savings or at an advanced level of investment strategy. You could learn how to invest with just one fund or you could start saving a few dollars per week to build up to your first investment. The point is to make your financial strategies achievable and to consider slowly moving up to desired savings rates rather than jumping into something that may be challenging if implemented too fast for your comfort level and budget.

Step 6: Monitor the Plan It’s called financial planning for a reason: Plans evolve and change just like life. Once the plan is created, it’s essentially a piece of history. This is why the plan needs to be monitored and tweaked from time to time. Think of what can change in your life, such as marriage, the birth of children, career changes and more. These events all require new perspectives on life and finance. Now think of financial changes beyond your control, such as tax law changes, interest rates, inflation rates, stock market fluctuations and economic recessions. Nothing remains constant except change! Life changes, laws change and so will your plan. But, once again, this is why it’s not called financial plan, it’s financial planning! Now that you know the 6 steps of financial planning, you can apply them to any area of personal finance, including insurance planning, tax planning, cash flow (budgeting), estate planning, investing and retirement. Just remember to keep referring back to the steps as significant life or financial changes occur. You may also want to do as the professional financial planners do and sit down and reevaluate your plan on a periodic basis, such as once per year.

Disclosures: Variable Annuities are issued by Jefferson National Life Insurance Company, (Dallas, TX), or Jefferson National Life Insurance Company of New York (New York, NY) and distributed by Jefferson National Securities Corporation, FINRA member. Policy series JNL-2300-1, JNL-2300-2, JNL-2300-3, JNL-2300-1-NY. Mentions of 'Monument Advisor' refer also to Monument Advisor of New York. *Monument Advisor has a $20 monthly flat insurance fee. Additional low-cost fund platform fees ranging from .10% - .35% will be assessed for investors wishing to purchase shares of low-cost funds. See the prospectus for details. Certain low-cost funds may only be available to you if you retain certain investment advisors.
Performance vs Taxable Account. Hypothetical illustration based on the following: initial lump contribution of $224,355 (our average contract size); Monument Advisor's $20/mo. fee; Current Age of 45 years; retirement at age 65; ordinary income tax rate of 35%; and a moderate investment portfolio. The results of the comparison between a taxable account and a tax-deferred account are designed to be hypothetical comparisons and not actual predictions or projections of future results in the value of your portfolio. You should use it in conjunction with advice from your financial or tax planning advisor and not as the primary basis for your investment decisions. The hypothetical illustration is based on an analysis of the historical performance of asset classes. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Your actual performance, asset allocation or trading patterns may differ from the values assumed by the calculator, resulting in a different outcome from that calculated. Certain asset classes are riskier than others, please consult your financial advisor for more information. If your tax rate changes you should update your choices in the calculator to reflect those changes. Jefferson National Life Insurance Company does not predict or guarantee future results.
Performance vs Avg. Variable AnnuityThis hypothetical illustration is based on a contract size of $224,355 (our average contract size), Monument Advisor's $20/mo fee, M&E fees of 1.35% for the average variable annuity (source: Morningstar® 12/12), and an assumed growth rate of 6%. Estimated annual savings and accumulation assume the contract value grows at the assumed growth rate, and excludes any differences in underlying fund charges. The values shown do not reflect the deduction of underlying fund charges. If included, the values would be lower than those shown. Please compare the fees charged by underlying funds in your current annuity versus those charged by Monument Advisor prior to purchasing Monument Advisor.
Fees vs Avg. Variable Annuity - This hypothetical illustration is based on a contract size of $224,355 (our average contract size), Monument Advisor's $20/mo fee, M&E fees of 1.35% for the average variable annuity (source: Morningstar® 12/12), and an assumed growth rate of 6%. Estimated annual savings and accumulation assume the contract value grows at the assumed growth rate, and excludes any differences in underlying fund charges. The values shown do not reflect the deduction of underlying fund charges. If included, the values would be lower than those shown. Please compare the fees charged by underlying funds in your current annuity versus those charged by Monument Advisor prior to purchasing Monument Advisor.
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Investment Advisory Services offered through National Christian Financial Advisors, Inc. (NCFA) Cyborg-Advisors is a division of NCFA and all services are offered through NCFA at our reduced fee structure because it is initiated through the automated platform in that of Cyborg-Advisors. The Private Equity section is only available for accredited investors and is a strategic alliance with Militello Capital. The Alternative Insurance Linked Securities are offered by Pioneer Investments and our Private Wealth Management services are offered by Global Value Investment Corp., a sub-advisor of NCFA, Inc. Militello Capital, Pioneer Investments and Global Value Inestments Corp. are not affiliated with NCFA, Inc. or Cyborg-Advisors. Financial advisory and planning services are only provided to investors who become clients through Cyborg-Advisors.